The leader of the Russian paramilitary group Wagner, Yevgeny Prigojine, said on Friday that his organization would train militiamen and build fortifications in two regions of Russia bordering Ukraine.
"
The private military company Wagner helps and will help the population of the border territories (of Ukraine) to receive training, build facilities, prepare people and organize militias
," Prigozhin was quoted as saying. the press department of his company Concord.
He did not publish more elements to prove his statements.
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According to him, these new activities began in the Russian regions of Belgorod and Kursk, regularly hit in recent months by fire attributed by Moscow to the Ukrainian army.
Read alsoThe Wagner paramilitary group opens its first official headquarters in Saint Petersburg
The objective, according to Mr. Prigojine, is to build “
fortified works and training centers for militiamen in the border regions
”.
“
Who wants peace, prepares for war.
You always have to be ready to defend your land
,” he added.
Since 2014, mercenaries from the Wagner Group have been accused of serving the interests of Vladimir Putin's regime in numerous conflict zones, ranging from Syria to Ukraine, via Africa and South America.
In recent months, the group has been actively operating on the Ukrainian front, in support of the Russian army.
He is accused of touring Russian prisons to recruit detainees to fight in Ukraine, in exchange for sentence reductions.
Read alsoEvguéni Prigojine, a “geopolitical entrepreneur” at the head of Wagner
In September, 61-year-old Yevgeny Prigojine admitted having founded the paramilitary organization after years of denial.
This week, he also bragged about having carried out electoral influence operations in the United States.
Now it operates fully in Russia with an uncovered face, a sign of a certain rise in power since the Kremlin offensive in Ukraine and the start of military mobilization in the country after defeats by the Russian army on the front.
In October, he thus opened with great fanfare, in a glass building in Saint Petersburg, the headquarters of the “
private military company Wagner
”.